We normally don’t think of ourselves as a shallow bunch here at RocketNews24–not when we have such potentially life-altering news to report as the latest Sailor Moon-themed merchandise or the newest collection of cute cat photos to come out of Japan.

But occasionally there are those days when a little eye-candy does wonders to brighten up our wonderful readers’ days. For instance–anyone care to see photos of a hot Thai model/moto-taxi driver dude?

Zawachin has made a name for herself online by recreating the makeup of celebrities and now has legions of Twitter followers as well as multiple cosmetic and real-world advertising deals. She’s known for covering her mouth with a face mask or other convenient objects and really focusing on what makes the eyes of her subject distinctive. We’ve introduced her and her skills before, but today we have a slightly different look of hers to show off.

One of the most envied perks of being famous has to be international travel. So while we’re sure being a model is just as hard work – if not more so – than heaps of other jobs, we can imagine that opportunities to escape the recent cold weather in Japan and jet off to warmer climes goes some way to make up for it.

So forgive us for being more than a little jealous of these pics from Kayo Police’s trip to Singapore. Sure, posing for pictures is work. But she also got to go to Universal Studios and go to a bubble spa. Merry Christmas!

Taiwan’s top model, Chi-ling Lin, has just turned 40 and yet she doesn’t look a day out of her twenties. How does she do it?! Read on for more of this beautiful lady who, we might add, is more than just a pretty face.

The hobby of building plastic models of mobile suits from the various Gundam series is huge in Japan. With countless sizes and difficulties to choose from any Gundam plastic model (Gunpla) enthusiast can stay busy for a long, long time.

And for aspiring model builders, there may be no better hero than a Japanese artist using the handle Mumumuno53. Don’t just take our word for it though, and take another look at the image above. As indicated, this is not a drawing, animation cel, or computer-generated image; it’s a three-dimensional plastic model that was built and painted by Mumumuno.

You may still not believe it, which is understandable, so here are some making-of shots they posted on their blog.

We all know that Japan does “small” well. Whether it’s microtechnology, tiny houses or bonsai, the Japanese are known for their dexterity and being attentive to the tiniest detail.

But a hobbyist and Niconico Douga user known simply as “A” takes attention to detail to a whole new level. In a homage to the three-dimensional worlds created by video game giants Nintendo, A has constructed an ultra-detailed diorama based on the first level of Nintendo 64 classic Super Mario 64 and even recreated the entire world map from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on a scale so small we could barely believe our eyes when we first saw it.

It may be one of the most famous statues in the world, but that doesn’t mean ‘The Thinker’ is unique. There are actually around 28 versions of Rodin’s masterpiece bronze sculpture, and those are just the ones we know about.

That list of Thinkers is about to get a little bit longer, as a research team in Japan has just unearthed a fully flexible, articulated version of ‘The Thinker’. Coming in at less than a tenth of the size of Rodin’s original(s), this incredible bendable figure is only 15.5cm tall!

When you think of plastic models based on the giant weaponized robots of the Gundam universe, “cute” isn’t a word that often comes to mind. But it’s hard to not give a big, gushy “aww” at one homemade Gundam model gifted to Twitter user Chal by their daughter.

The story as outlined by Chal on their Twitter account and retweeted thousands of times begins with a mysterious paper package with something written on it in crude Japanese. Mini… Gasodam? Mini Garidamu? No. This was a “Mini Gundam” and Chal, an experienced model hobbyist, was up for the challenge.

Satoshi Araki is an artist who creates miniature dioramas. In one of his brilliantly imagined worlds, a mysterious figure stands in a dark alleyway. In another, a car with smashed-out windows sprawls in front of a bombed-out house in a destroyed city.

Araki sometimes puts a single finger into the frame to show the scale of the tiny scenes, which are sculpted in painstaking detail. His coke cans are smaller than a fingernail; his Vespa model is tiny enough to rest on your thumb.

Pop idols exist in this strange space between reality and fantasy. While they are living, breathing individuals, they are set on a pedestal and rarely get to interact with people one on one. While groups like AKB48 may be tied to a certain location to serve as a symbol of pride for one area’s people, outside of meet and greet events, fans cannot really get to know them. Of course, the biggest taboo of all is for a pop idol and a fan to begin dating. But one brave group has decided to step forth from the binds of their image. Meet the members of the idol group Happening Girls. These four lovely ladies depicted here are unique in the idol community because they are allowed to foster relationships, date, and even marry their fans.

RocketNews24 has seen plenty of hot babes and cute girls, both real and not-so-real. I don’t know about you, but even as one of the contributors to this site, whenever I see an article with a portrait image of a girl splashed across the top of the page, my mind usually winds up with two questions: “Is this a guy?” and “Could it be Photoshop?” The Internet’s a dangerous place after all, as you know.

So today, instead of leaving you to guess if the babe featured in this article is a dude or not, we’ll just cut to the chase. Rest assured, there’s no crossdressing or genderbending in this one. There is, however, a bit… wait, make that A LOT of Photoshop involved. Or perhaps just a lot of eating. You’ll see what I mean after the jump!

Sports News QQ recently challenged sexy sports model Gui Jingjing to show off her very unique talent. Gui wasted no time in proving that she has humor and a set of enviable assets as she posted pictures proving how much her ample chest could contain. The answer? A tablet. Check out the rest of her quirky and slightly sultry photos too!

Modeling is a tough business. You need the body, the face, and perhaps the most difficult thing to achieve: the walk. All the top models must combine these three components perfectly. In an industry that is so difficult to break into, a reality TV competition where the winners are whisked off to Italy for a potential professional modeling career could be just the chance an aspiring model is looking for! But these contestants will have to show off more than just their good looks to win this competition. What do these model wannabes have to do to prove their worth for this Chinese TV show? It might just bug some people.

With a new school year comes new students, new possibilities, and a new round of beauty competitions.

“Wait,” you’re asking, “Beauty competitions? Shouldn’t that be ‘roommates’ or ‘textbooks’ or ‘professors?'” And, yes, those are just a few of the new experiences that come with starting college, but thanks to New Face Grand Prix, new Japanese female college students can also “compete” to be the cutest freshman in Japan.

As we have come to learn over the years, Japan really loves its capsule toys and mobile phone accessories, and there’s always some cute new bit of plastic to attach to your person or use to brighten up your electronic devices. But for fans of the original Capcom fighter Street Fighter II (which is everyone, surely!?) we have some extra good news today.

A new series of models, showing the world warriors not in their typically magnificent fighting poses but on their knees and with their noses touching the ground, begging for forgiveness, is due to be released later this year.

While you might think that the world only needs one real Barbie, it turns out that–whether needed or not–there’s already another one! However, unlike the Russian/Ukrainian version, this “Real Barbie” is a Tokyo-based, Japanese-speaking model for Popteen magazine. And her rise to fame has only just begun!

Asia is certainly not short of good-looking women, and it seems like every other day that some new model or wannabe pop idol appears online and wins legions of fans. But this week a selection of 10 photos of one university student in Beijing are being pored over by men all over the country, who seemingly can’t get enough of her “bewitching purity and innocence“.

We’ve seen way too many beautiful guys who look like girls. Hell, some of them even look prettier than real girls. We know some of you are starting to get bored with looking at “traps” all the time, so here, the tables are turned this time! This handsome face belongs to a girl! It’s still some time before April Fool’s Day so you can be assured that we’re not kidding you!